Before 2004, I’ll bet many of us had never heard of Sumatra, Indonesia, or given much thought to daily life in places like Sri Lanka or Thailand. But that year, one word forever changed the way we think about these far off lands. That word, for those of you who aren’t already two steps ahead of me, was tsunami. And today, thanks in part to the tragedy, another word may change the way we handle similar crisis and relief efforts. That word is Sanctuary — a new emergency shelter concept from Sweden-based design firm Barometrix.

One of the greatest challenges in the relief operation of the tsunami disaster — which is still underway — was providing sanitary drinking water, food and shelter. In the aftermath, it became clear that two things were needed: a tsunami warning system to detect possible tsunamis & give time for evacuation, and a better response and relief plan for such disasters.